When we designed and converted our van, we did so with the intention that we could live off grid. As a family, we have always been keen to live as sustainably as we can and therefore we wanted to be able to live in our tiny home on wheels without having to rely on electric hook ups and campsites. We are over a year into our off-grid life and we love it. We love the freedom it gives us and the chance to connect to nature again 'living off the land'.
How we are able to live off-grid
We get all of our electricity from the wonderful ball of fire in the sky thanks to our solar panels. We opted for two big solar panels on top of our van which provides us with enough energy to run a fridge and anything else we need to plug in. We also have a split charger which means our batteries can get a charge whilst we drive. This comes in handy during the winter months if we are based in the UK.
​
We have a big water tank and a boiler installed in the van which runs off our solar and gas tank. This means we can shower and have hot water! Luxury!
​
​
Life in a field
For the last two summers, we have been based in the UK. During this time, we have been lucky enough to be able to park up our van in corner of a meadow. We still get some funny reactions when we tell people that we live in a field but the truth is we really love it and even though we love to travel, part of us really misses that little corner of the field when we're not there! Tucked away from the world, we are completely surrounded by nature. It allows us to slow down and watch the spiders make their webs and the bees search for nectar. We listen out for the bark of the muntjac and the hoot of the barn owl. In summer, we get a haul of fragrant elderflowers for cordial and in autumn we are blessed with a gult of blackberries, crab apples and elderberries. We love the experiences that this little green patch offers to our children. They spend hours playing in the grass and their evenings are spent around the campfire.
Growing our own food
7 years ago I signed up to a little overgrown patch of grass which would soon become our patch of heaven where we grow our own fruit and veg. Fast forward 7 years and it is still very much full of weeds but the harvests we have had have been plentiful. Providing the opportunity for our boys to learn about and be involved in the process of growing food has always been really important to us. Not only are they learning about where our food comes from, they are learning about the hard work and care that goes into growing our food. As well as growing our own food we are learning about the medicinal properties of herbs and flowers allowing us to grow, preserve and store our very own medicines in the van. This give us more freedom for living off grid.
Related Posts
Hello
We are a family of 4 living and travelling full time in our self converted Luton van.Â
Our aim is to provide other families information, guides and top tips to help them on their next adventure, whether that's world travel, van life or home education.